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Posted on 11/11/2006 12:11:49 AM PST by Stoat
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He wrote home to Wigan telling of the harsh conditions and how the camp he was moving to was under constant attack. He added: “I am fine, not been blown up yet!!!”
Jamie had volunteered to serve in Iraq. He told his family that there was no point in joining up if he wasn’t ready to fight. He loved his military life.
Eddie recalled: “Once when I dropped him off at Bolton station to go back to camp he spotted an old man in uniform sitting on the bench. He went straight over and started chatting away.
“He would talk to anyone and had an ability to make anyone smile. As I pulled off he had the old boy laughing and chatting away.”
Jamie was always popular. He was a keen and talented boxer and made sure he was super-fit and looking his best.
Eddie said: “I’m a tall guy but he towered over me at 6ft 3ins. He looked the part.
“If I was to name one of his hobbies I’d have say it was girlfriends! I’d lose track of them he had that many.
“He was so charming and funny, I couldn’t imagine anyone not liking him really.
“He’d always be going out to the local nightclub — Barbarella’s in Leigh — and I’d give him a lift there so he could meet his mates on time.
“When he’d get out of the car I’d crack the same joke with him. I’d say, ‘Remember Jamie, don’t be a fool, wrap your tool.’
“He’d just laugh and smile at me in the same way as he always did, then jump out of the car with a wave. I can picture him smiling like that as if it was yesterday.”
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| Proud family ... leaving for Iraq, and with brother Joe |
Jamie’s 24-year-old brother Joe is also in the Army, but is based in the UK at the Infantry Training Centre in Catterick, North Yorks. Joe and Jamie were always close and the loss has hit his whole family hard.
Eddie said: “They were joined at the hip those two. I’ve always been so proud of my boys and I’m glad they were such good mates growing up. They always had each other and could get on because they’re so close in age.”
Eddie, who proudly shared family snaps, with The Sun, hopes Jamie’s death will serve as a reminder that war and bloodshed is ongoing, and not just confined to the history books.
Conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq have claimed 162 British lives in total since 2001, and flag-draped coffins are still flown back to the UK.
Each one of them leaves behind loved ones — something Eddie is keen to stress.
He said: “Jamie was like any other 19-year-old. It’s just he chose a career in the Army.
“A lot of his friends are still in Wigan, doing other jobs and living their lives. But Jamie’s job put him in the line of fire and he paid with his life.
“That’s the choice these people make when they sign up and it is the most honourable decision anyone can make. That’s why we need to remember them.
“Me and my wife Rose will be going to the church where our Jamie was christened and we’ll be putting a poppy with a cross by our favourite tree in the garden.”
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Together we will be victorious, and the world will be a much better place..
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1736743/posts
Very nice Tribute, Brit!
Jeez what a fine young man.
Prayers for his family.
tet.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." -Manuel II Paleologus
" ... In Flanders fields they grow ..."
The Queen will visit the Cenotaph today in reverence.
Thank you!
Here's hoping the moonbat 'Rats don't cut 'n' run before the war is won.
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Athena's grief for lost fatherBy JOHN COLES November 11, 2006 FUNERAL mourners wept yesterday as a ten-year-old girl said goodbye to her RAF flier father with a deeply moving poem.
Little Athena Nicholas said dad Gareth, killed with 13 comrades in Afghanistan, was now “whispering in the clouds”. And as mum Helen looked on proudly, she added: “I will visit you in your dreams.” Gareth, a flight lieutenant with No120 Squadron, died in September’s shocking crash in which a Nimrod spy plane exploded minutes after being refuelled in mid-air. He was 40. Only-child Athena choked back tears as she read her poem — My Dad — at the church service in St Columb Minor, Cornwall, near the family’s Newquay home. It ended with the lines: “I wish he was still with me/And he’s whispering in the clouds/I will visit you in your dreams/And we shall roam free/Playing in the grassy fields/Definitely you and me.” The funeral — the first for the Nimrod victims — was attended by 300 mourners.
Gareth’s coffin was carried into the church draped in the Union flag with his cap on top. His CO Jerry Kessell called Athena’s poem “an incredibly moving part of the ceremony”. He added: “The service was a wonderful reflection of Gareth’s life and how he was determined to see right by his family.” The Nimrod went down just after Gareth and Helen celebrated their 15th wedding anniversary. The flier’s final text message to his wife read: “15 years and one day.” Both Helen and Athena received a letter from Gareth after the tragedy. In a statement Helen said: “He was a handsome, funny, fun-loving, caring, enthusiastic and energetic man who was generous with his time. I feel very privileged that he was in my life for 18 years and have many wonderful memories of our time together.” She added: “He doted on our daughter Athena and always had time to explain things to her.” Helen heard about the crash on the news before two uniformed men arrived on her doorstep. She said: “Unfortunately, I knew what this meant.” |
God Bless and watch over our own soldiers, as well as our alies.
We're in this for the right reasons.
The 11th month, the 11th day and the 11th hour . . was called Armistice Day when we were taught about it in school . .
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